So Young So Bad (1950)
Directors:
Bernard Vorhaus, Edgar G. Ulmer
Writers:
Jean Rouverol (story), Bernard Vorhaus (story)
Stars:
Paul Henreid, Catherine McLeod, Grace Coppin
Actor Paul Henreid made his directorial debut with the well-intentioned So Young, So Bad. The scene is a correctional home for delinquent girls, where sadistic warden Riggs (Cecil Clovelly) and head matron Beuhler (Grace Coppin) rule with an iron fist. Compassionate psychiatrist Dr. Jason (Paul Henreid) and assistant superintendent Ruth Levering (Catherine McLeod) disagree with the brutal disciplinary methods advocated by Riggs and Buehler. Dr. Jason is a proponent of kindness and occupational therapy, and Ruth agrees. But as long as the institutionalized girls are afraid to speak up before a board of inquiry, Jason can do nothing about their mistreatment. Fortunately, one of the girls, Loretta (Anne Francis) decides "enough is enough". Featured in the cast of So Young, So Bad is young Rosita Moreno, who went on to fame and fortune after changing her first name to Rita.